Pictured above the Irish Colour Belt team on the podium in the British Open, Sheffield . (absent: Deirdre Gahan)

Congratulations to the RITA’s first ever, Irish Colour Belt team who had an outstanding performance in the British Open in Sheffield last weekend. The team of eight, took 13 out of a possible maximum 20 medals. Mr Howard who travelled with the team said “I’ve very proud of the teams performance, they all did really well. Most importantly, they followed what they’d learned in the squad sessions. All the training seems to have paid off”. He added “it’s all about getting experience for the future, the medals were a nice bonus”.

Mr Tobin brought over his Carrick –on-Suir school and they took their share of the medals. Ms Emer McAneny did particularly well, taking gold in both the 1 st degree patterns and her sparring section. Mr Stephen Hallinan, from Master Howard’s school, who travelled as an individual brought back a gold in the black belt sparring.

The Irish Colour Belt team individual results were as follows:

Donal McQuaid (Master Howard’s School):

Silver in Sparring, Bronze in Patterns

Deirdre Gahan (Stillorgan):

Gold in Sparring, Silver in Patterns

Patrick Nicholson (Old Bawn):

Silver in Sparring

Aisling Swaine (Old Bawn):

Gold in Sparring, Bronze in Patterns

Patrick Conlon (Athlone):

Gold in Sparring, Gold in Patterns

Conor Dunne (Athlone):

Gold in Sparring, Silver in Patterns

Simone Jardine (Master Howard’s School):

Silver in Sparring, Bronze in Patterns